Zoo scientist: Save giraffe campaign went 'much too far'

Copenhagen Zoo have confirmed they put down a healthy young giraffe this morning despite a massive online campaign to save it. Yorkshire Wildlife Park said they were saddened by the news following their offer to rehome the animal.

Marius the giraffe was put down and later fed to the zoo's lions Credit: EBU

Staff at a Copenhagen Zoo where a healthy giraffe was put down despite a massive online campaign to save it have received death threats, CNN reports.

Copenhagen Zoo spokesman Tobias Stenbæk Bro said that several members of staff were targeted including Bengt Holst, Director of Research and Conservation who "received threats via telephone and emails."

Two-year-old Marius was put down despite an offer to rehome him at The Yorkshire Wildlife Park in accordance with European guidelines aimed at preventing inbreeding.

Marius, the giraffe killed and fed to lions after a decision by Copenhagen Zoo. Credit: EBU

A Danish animal activist says the killing of a healthy giraffe "should not have occurred" and was proof Copenhagen Zoo is "not the ethical institution that it wants to portray itself as being".

"Here we have a zoo which thinks that putting this giraffe down instead of thinking of alternatives is the best option," Stine Jensen, from Denmark's Organisation Against the Suffering of Animals, said.

Stenbaek Bro says the zoo was recommended to put down the giraffe by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria because there were already a lot of giraffes with similar genes in the organization's breeding program.

The UK zoo that offered to rehome a young giraffe facing death in Copenhagen Zoo, has said that it is "saddened" by reports that it had been killed. Yorkshire Wildlife Park said in a statement it had contacted the Danish zoo, but did not hear back:

Yorkshire Wildlife Park is saddened to hear reports from Copenhagen that 18 month old giraffe Marius has been euthansed.

When news of the plan was revealed on Saturday YWP immediately contacted Copenhagen Zoo via YWP's Head of Hoofstock who is Danish and explained to the zoo why the Park urgently wished to speak to the zoo and requested a call to confirm the situation regarding the giraffe.

YWP confirmed that they had contacted the zoo but had not heard back.

YWP has a state of the art giraffe house built in 2012 with a bachelor herd of 4 male giraffes and the capacity to take an extra male, subject to the agreement of the European stud book keeper.

One of the YWP giraffes is Palle, who came from Copenhagen Zoo in September 2012, when he was the same age as Marius.